Review Posts

Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo

This week's monster beer has been lurking at the back of my cupboard for a very long time, but as it's apparently been matured in oak casks for over a year it's not exactly going to let a little age worry it. Part of the reason it's languished so long, to be honest, ...

Lagavulin Distillers Edition

Unlike beer, I haven't always loved whisky. I put this down to my initial taste, in my teens, when I somehow acquired a small bottle of Teachers and decided that whisky was icky. To be fair to Teachers, I don't think my teenage palate would have fallen in love with the finest single ...

Brewdog Tokyo*

As my contribution to the continuing campaign against the Higher Strength Beer Duty, I'm selflessly drinking through my collection of beers which are directly affected by this absurd tax. I'll spare you the rant (you can visit my inaugural post on the matter if you want to know more) and move straight onto tonight's guest beer. Brewdog ...

Hogs Back Brewery Tour-At-Home

I’ve known Hogs Back Brewery for years; our good friends used to live literally around the corner from them and happily still live within stumbling distance. They have an excellent and generous brewery tour, as well as a fantastic beer shop featuring all manner of British and foreign beers. If you ever find yourself ...

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12

As anyone with a passing interest in the UK beer scene is probably aware, this month saw the arrival of the High Strength Beer Duty(HSBD) resulting in an additional tax burden on any beers over 7.5% ABV strength. It's important to note that the existing Beer Duty is already relative to strength; before ...

Redemption Brewery Tour-In-A-Brewery!

After a year of doing my brewery tours at home, it seems about time that I got off the sofa and did a tour of an actual brewery. Redemption, based in Tottenham, has the dual benefits of being a fantastic brewery and within a few miles of home, so where better to go?! I first ...

Tesco Finest Beers

Supermarkets have been selling ‘own label’ products forever. Beer is no exception – I’ve reviewed Aldi’s Finchley’s Ales IPA previously here, and I’ve got another of their bottles lurking downstairs in my “to be reviewed” pile. Usually, the actual producers of these own label products are fairly obscure; although it’s suspected that Aldi use ...

Bristol Beer Factory Tour-At-Home

I so enjoyed my first Tour-At-Home, working though Marble's beers, that it inspired me to do more in depth explorations of breweries. I've been following the Bristol Beer Factory on Twitter for a little while, so when I stumbled across some of their bottles in Borough Market (at the excellent Utobeer stall, run by ...

Marble Brewery Tour-At-Home

One of the many joys of writing this blog is that people have a tendency to tell you about their favourite small brewery, which is often a new discovery. If you're extra lucky, that person is so enthusiastic that they'll haul back a selection of said brewery's products for you, which is why I ...

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Name: Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout Bottled/Draft: Bottled, not conditioned. Colour: Pitch black Head: Fine bubbles, lingering deep brown head Mouthfeel: Fine bubbles remain in the mouth, giving an almost creamy texture. Taste: Slight bitterness, but more from the deep roasted malt than hops. In both taste and smell, this beer lives up to its name ...